RDFFG looks to bolster community wildfire resilience
By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George released Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans for each of its seven electoral areas on May 22nd. The plans, which have not been officially adopted yet, outline wildfire mitigation initiatives based on community feedback and recommendations from consultants.
The plan for Electoral Area H, which includes Valemount and McBride, was informed by feedback from residents last fall during an October 15th community meeting at the Dunster Community Hall. Consultants also surveyed the 1.5M hectare area to assess its topography and fuel sources.
High-priority action items in the area include hiring a FireSmart coordinator for the regional district, organizing community chipper days to dispose of residents’ vegetation and debris for free, and establishing a Community FireSmart and Wildfire Resiliency Committee in the Robson Valley.
These items will improve the area’s preparedness for wildfires and help engage residents in wildfire risk reduction measures, said RDFFG Manager of Communications and Culture Hilary Erasmus.
“Over the past few years, wildfires have continued to grow in both number and severity. We can’t predict when and where a wildfire will happen,” Erasmus wrote in an email to The Goat. “Establishing Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans … will provide the Regional District with guiding documents that prioritize activities to implement wildfire resiliency and mitigation initiatives.”
Erasmus added that each plan is unique to its respective electoral area, giving the Regional District specific steps to improve that community’s wildfire mitigation.
To that end, the Electoral Area H plan also identifies several challenges to wildfire risk reduction in the area, such as the steep, heavily forested terrain and having just one emergency exit route in the communities of Dome Creek, Crescent Spur and Mountainview Road. Additionally, over 75 per cent of land in Electoral Area H’s wildland urban interface – areas where human infrastructure meets wilderness – is on private land, limiting the opportunities for fuel management treatments, according to the plan.
Nearly all the wildfire risk reduction recommendations in the plan can be covered with grants, according to Erasmus. As the Regional District begins implementing its plans, residents can look for updates on the RDFFG Facebook page, the Regional District website at rdffg.ca, and look at advertisements in local newspapers, she added. She also encouraged residents to visit firesmartbc.ca for more information.
To view a copy of the plan, visit https://tinyurl.com/yzkys84y.
